Tracker-board.



H. M. SMITH.

TRACKER BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7, 1914.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- UDDDUDDDUDDDDDDUUUUDDDDUDDfl-DDUDDDDUDDDDDDDDUUUDDDD DDDDDDDDUD DDDUUDDUUDDDDDDDUDGDDDUDDDDDDBDUDDUUDDO HARRY M. SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TRACKER-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.

Application filed March 7, 1914. Serial No. 823,077.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY M. SMrrI-I, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Tracker-Boards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in tracker boards, and has for its principal object the provision of improved means for adjusting the position of the openings in said tracker board to compensate for the expansion and contraction of the music sheet.

In tracker boards, especially those em ployed to operate automatic organ players, as many as two hundred and thirteen notes are operated'from a single tracker board, and by my improved arrangement it is possible to have the two hundred and thirteen openings in the tracker board, which correspond to the notes to be operated, arranged in a single row. With this arrangement, of course, the openings are necessarlly very small, and, therefore, to insure correct operation this tracker board must be carefully adjusted to compensate for the expansion and contraction of the music sheet.

As a further feature of my invention, I have provided the tracker board with a second series of openings which are arranged in staggered relationship in accordance with the previous method of arranglng these holes, so that this tracker board can be employed in connection with music sheets which are punched to correspond to the staggered holes, or to those which are punched to correspond to the single serles of openings. 0

These and other features of my'invention will be more readily understood by having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a tracker board embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional View showing two sections of the tracker board in separated position. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of one of the sections. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail. Fig. 7 is a plan view with the parts broken away, of a modifiedform of my invention. Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of Fig. 7, looking in the direction of the arrows.

As shown, my improved tracker board comprises a body portion 11 provided with an elongated slot 12. This slot 12 extends substantially the full length of the tracker board, through which extend a series of metallic tubes 13, the upper open ends of which cooperate with the music sheet for controlling the instrument in the usual manner. These tubes are preferably mounted in sections, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, each section comprising about sixteen tubes, although, of course, this number can be varied to suit varying requirements. Each of these sections is mounted in a suitable block 14, which block is provided with a cylindrical opening passing from end to end, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This opening comprises a cylindrical portion 15, together with a smaller threaded portion 16 and an enlarged end portion 17 Passing through this opening there is a threaded rod 18 provided with a slotted head portion 19 fitting within the enlarged portion 17 of the cylindrical opening, the opposite end of this rod being.

provided with a flattened projection 20. These sections are arranged side by side, in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 2, the central section 21 being held stationary, and the adjacent sections arranged so that the projection 20 of one rod engages the slot in the head 19 of the ad acent rod. The rod which passes through the last section is elongated, as shown at 22 and is provided with a ferruled wheel to provide ready means for rotating this rod.

With this arrangement, it will be seen that when the rod 22 is rotated that this rotating movement is imparted to the entire series of rods 18. Assume that the wheel 23 is rotated in a suitable direction to cause the rod 18 of the central section 21 to be advanced to the left on account of the threaded engagement with the block 14 of this central section. The head 19 of this rod, therefore, pushes against the next adjacent section to the left, thus moving this section a slight distance, and at the same time all of the other sections to theleft of the central section are caused to move a slight distance due to each section pushing against the next adjacent section. The rotation of the central members 18 of each section, however, causes the corresponding head portions to be projected slightly toward the left, and thus causes a separate and independent movement for each of the adjacent sections. Thus the first section to the left will merely have the slight movement due to the movement to the left of the rod 18 of the central stationary section. The second section to the left will be given this movement, plus the additional movement caused by the advancement of the rod 18 of the first section. In this manner each of the sections will be separated a slight distance, the last section be ing moved a distance equal to the sum of the movements of the other sections. In the same manner the sections to the right of the central section are pushed outward to the right, the extent of movement in every instance being, of course, dependent upon the extent of rotation of the wheel 23.

In this manner, by having the tubes mounted in a plurality of sections, each of which has a separate movement, a very accurate adjustment of the openings in the tracker board can be obtained to compensate for the contraction and expansion of the music sheet. And, furthermore, this is accomplished in a very eflicient and simple manner.

In Figs. 7 and 8, I have shown a slightly modified form of my invention in which, instead of having a rotating rod for controlling the various sections, I provide a system of levers. This system consists of a centrally pivoted lever 31 pivoted to a bracket 32, to one end of which lever is connected a connecting link 33 extending to the left, and near the other end of said lever is connected a second link 34 extending in the opposite direction. The body portion 14 of each of the sections is cut away slightly at its edge so as to form an open slot between each section. In each of these slots there is a cam 35, which cam is connected to a swinging link 36, the opposite end of this link being pivotally connected to one of the connecting links 333at. WVith: this arrangement, it will be seen that when the rod 3d is moved either to the rightor the left, this move ment will be communicated to the rod 33, and each of the cams'35 between thevarious sections will be slightly rotated. Thus-the cam between the central stationary section and the first section on rotating will push the first sections aslight-distance away from the central section, which movement, of course, will be imparted to all of the sections to the left. The cam between the second and third sections will produce a slight additional movement for the third section, and so on. So that in this construction I likewise provide means for separating the adjacent sections and obtain amovement for the last section equal to the sum of the movement of all the previous sections.

Referring to Fig. 1', it will also be seen that I have provided in the tracker board a series of staggered openings 40, which openings correspond to the openings employed in certain forms of non-adjustable tracker boards. this'tra'cker board in connection with music sheets punched to correspond to these staggered openings, or this tracker board can be employed in connection with the new form of music sheets punched to correspond to the single row of openings.

It will thus be seen that I have devised a very efiicient' form of tra-ckerboard, and one in which the adjustment isprovided by having the body portion of the tracker board stationary, all the adjustment being provided for by having the various sections in which the tubes are mounted adjustable withina slot in this tracker board. In this manner a much easier and a more eflicient adjustment is possible.

While I have illustrated and described certain particular embodiments of my in vention, it will, of course, be understood that I do not wish to'be-limitedto the exact construction shown and described, but that various modifications and changes will readily suggest themselvesto-those skilled: in the art without departing from the scope of my in vention.

What I- claim' as my invention is:

1. A tracker boa-rd having alongitudinal slot, a plurality of tubesmountedin sections mounted within said slot and extending through to the surface of said board, and meansv for laterally and variably adjusting said sections within said slot.

2. In a tracker board, a body portion, a longitudinal slot therein-,aplurality of tubes mounted in sections on onesi'de of said body 5 portion projecting through said slot to the opposite surface thereof, means for holding one of said sections stationary, and means for adjustingthe position ofthe other sections with respect to said: stationary section.

3. In a tracker board, abody portion having a longitudinal slot, a plurality of groups of tubesmounted in-movableblocks and projecting through said slot, said sectionsbeing mounted adjacent toone another, and means for variably moving each section with respect to the acent section- 4. In a tracker board, a body portion having a longitudinal slot therein, a plurality of tubes mounted in sections-proj ecting through said slot, and meansfor simultaneously adjusting the position ofeach section with respect tothe adjacent section.

5. In a tracker board, alongitudinal slot therein, a plurality of tubes mounted in sectionsextending' througlr said slot, each section comprising a body portion, a rod extending through: said body portion of each of said sections, said rods having threaded engagement with the corresponding; sections,

In this manner it is possible to use a head at one end of each of said rods adapted to engage With the adjacent section, and means for simultaneously rotating said rods, whereby said heads on said rods are advanced so as to move the adjacent sections.

6. In a tracker board, a longitudinal slot, a plurality of tubes mounted in sections projecting through said slot, each of said sections provided with a body portion having a rod extending therethrough, said rod being in threaded engagement With said body portion, a slotted head at one end of said rod, a projection at the other end of each of said rods, adapted to engage With the slotted head of the next adjacent rod, and means for 1 simultaneously rotating said rods.

Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 2nd day of March 1914.

HARRY M. SMITH. Witnesses:

E. H. CLEGG, J. NoRBY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I). C. 

